What is bird flu?
   Avian Influenza A (H5N1) is commonly called bird flu.  Influenza A (H5N1) virus – also called “H5N1 virus” – is an influenza A virus subtype that occurs mainly in birds, is highly contagious among birds, and can be deadly to them. H5N1 virus does not usually infect people, but infections with these viruses have occurred in humans. Most of these cases have resulted from people having direct or close contact with H5N1-infected poultry or H5N1- contaminated surfaces. The H5N1 strain of bird flu is regarded as highly pathogenic and can also cause disease and death in humans. However, most human victims have contracted the disease through close contact with affected birds. 

                          
    Over five million birds have been culled in five states over the last one year to contain the spread of avian flu.
    The virus has spread from birds to humans in 15 countries, mostly in Asia, and is not expected to diminish significantly in the short term, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. Governments and the World Health Organization (WHO) are piling up medicines in case of an bird flu pandemic in humans. A flu pandemic could kill 71 million people worldwide and lead to a major global recession costing more than $3 trillion (Rs146.1 trillion), according to a worst-case scenario outlined by the World Bank last month. While no human cases have been reported in India, experts fear the H5N1 virus  might mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic that could kill millions of people. Since the virus resurfaced in Asia in 2003, it has killed more than 200 people in a dozen countries, WHO says.
   Bird Flu in 2011
   Bird flu has struck Bengal on September 21, 2011 again and culling of poultry birds started across 13 villages of Nadia's Tehatta I block on Tuesday. State animal resources development minister Nure Alam Chowdhury went on a recce of the affected Tehatta I block on Tuesday. "Around 51,000 hens and ducks will be culled within a 3-km radius of the affected zone," said A K Agarwal, secretary of the ARD department, at Writers' Buildings on Tuesday.
   The dreaded avian influenza (H1N1) or bird flu has reappeared in Tripura on February 19, 2011 after a gap of two years. Fearing rapid escalation of the disease, specialists of the animal resource department today culled 2,500 ducks in the government-run poultry farm at RK Nagar, 8km east of Agartala town. on February 19, 2011, doctors of the department will fan out all over the state for culling ducks and chicken suspected to be carrying the deadly virus. 
  The director of the animal resource department, Dr Asish Barman, said when the death toll crossed 50, we sent blood samples of the dead ducks to the animal disease diagnostic laboratory in Bhopal. Yesterday, we received confirmation that it is a fresh outbreak of bird flu,? said Barman, adding that altogether 2,500 ducks have been culled in the RK Nagar poultry farm. Dr Dipankar Roy, a deputy secretary in the ministry said the deadly virus might have entered Tripura from neighbouring areas in Bangladesh. "This happened in 2008 when we had to cull more than 55,000 chicken and ducks all over the state. That time the virus had entered from Bangladesh, but this time, we can not say that with certainty," he added. 
    Bird Flu in 2010
 On January 23, 2010: Bird flu in West Bengal spread to two more localities in Murshidabad district, health authorities said  after over 52,500 birds were culled in the affected areas. 'Two more epicenters surfaced in the Khargram block,' a health ministry official said. 
  Earlier, the outbreak of the flu was reported in Hazrabati and Nagar villages in Murshidabad Jan 14 and in Faridpur village of Burwan block Jan 17. 'Containment measures have been initiated as per the contingency plan and culling of birds has started. So far 52,578 birds have been culled and 4,572 eggs have been destroyed,' the official added. Officials also said that 301 poultry workers and veterinary surgeons involved in culling operations have been put on chemoprophylaxis. The surveillance activities are going on. 

   Bird Flu in 2009
  On January 4, 2009  authorities in West Bengal began culling operations in the bird flu-hit Darjeeling and Siliguri subdivisions. "A three-day culling operation has begun in the affected areas of Siliguri. Twenty-four teams comprising of a total of 200 veterinary workers have culled at least 100 chickens since morning," Sarod Dwivedi, sub-divisional officer of Siliguri, told reporters. The district administration had on Januaruary 4, 2010 ordered the culling of about 60,000 poultry at Pubang in Takhdra of Darjeeling subdivision and Matigara in Siliguri subdivision. People are willingly handing over their chickens to our workers. For the time being, each household is getting a compensation of Rs.500.
   Bird Flu in 2008
  On  December 31, 2008 Indian health officials were beginning a mass awareness campaign to prevent recurrence of bird flu after culling of over 400,000 poultry in the two affected states of West Bengal and Assam. As many as 421,057 birds have been culled so far in the two states, health ministry officials said.  “We are creating public awareness by telecasting and broadcasting messages through local channels and All India Radio about avian influenza to check the problem,” an official said. 
   New Delhi, Dec 22, 2008: Over five million birds have been culled in five states over the last one year to contain the spread of avian flu, with West Bengal accounting for 83 percent of the birds killed, Parliament was informed on Monday.  The number of birds killed since December 18, 2007 touched 5.14 million while compensation provided to the people affected by the killing of these birds stood at Rs 14.85 crore, Minister of State for Agriculture Taslimuddin said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.   
 About 17,000 poultry culled in West Bengal 
 KOLKATA, December 19, 2008: About 17,000 poultry have been culled in West Bengal's bird flu-hit Malda district, an official said Friday. "Veterinary workers have culled 16,963 chickens and ducks till Thursday night. The culling operations will continue till Friday night and mopping up operations will start Saturday," District Magistrate Sridhar Ghosh said. The state Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rehman had said approximately 25,000 poultry will be culled at Narhatta and Satgheria villages under English Bazar police station in Malda, about 350 km from here. 
 250,000 birds culled after bird flu outbreak in Assam 
Bangalore, December 14, 2008: India has culled at least 250,000 birds in Assam to contain an outbreak of bird flu among poultry, a government official said. At least 950 health officials are monitoring the situation in eight of the state’s 23 districts where bird flu has been reported, D. Hojai, director of health services in the Assam government, said on Sunday. Samples from two more districts where poultry died have been sent to a laboratory to confirm if the deaths are due to bird flu, Hojai said. Culling is being expanded to include two villages in neighbouring Meghalaya. The virus was detected in poultry in a village near Guwahati last month.   
  In March 2008.  
  Health experts have warned that the outbreak could get out of control.  West Bengal has sealed a stretch of its border with Bangladesh, which has been fighting to contain the spread of bird flu since March last year. Experts in Bangladesh have warned that the outbreak of the virus is far worse than the government is reporting. 
  The  government of West Bengal on January 23 has asked thousands of its cadres to help veterinary staff cull birds to contain an outbreak of bird flu in poultry that officials fear could spiral out of control. "Our workers have been asked to fight the menace, shoulder to shoulder with health workers," said Biman Bose, a senior communist party leader. 
  Villagers unwilling to part with their poultry and a shortage of staff have slowed the culling of more than 2 million birds in the state. The problem is made worse because many poor and illiterate farmers are sometimes misinformed about basic hygiene. Dead birds are reported to have been dumped in village wells and ponds by people not aware of the risks from the H5N1 virus. 
  There have been no human infections reported in India since the virus was first detected in the country in 2006. The H5N1 strain has killed more than 200 people globally since it re-emerged in Asia in 2003 and has since spread across much of Asia, the Middle East, parts of Europe and Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the spread of the disease in eastern India was making it harder to control and increased the risk of human infection. More than 30 million people live in the nine affected districts. 
  Central health agencies have also given West Bengal a new target of slaughtering 300,000 birds a day and doubling the rapid-response team of veterinarians to 600 in the state. Authorities in West Bengal are paying farmers up to 40 rupees compensation for each bird culled. Authorities in neighboring Bihar said they will begin culling birds in dozens of villages close to the border with West Bengal as a precaution.   
  Februray 02, 2008: The state's Animal Resource Development Minister Anisur Rahaman said on Saturday, that the bird flu is now under control. "We have so far culled nearly 2.9 million poultry since January 14," when the outbreak -- India's third and worst -- was confirmed, Rahaman said. He added that the "next plan is to disinfect thousands of backyard poultry yards where culling has been done." The state government was taking all possible steps to stop the spread of bird flu to humans, he said.
  Meanwhile, Bangladesh slaughtered tens of thousands of chickens on Saturday as four more districts reported detecting bird flu. The H5N1 strain has now spread to 34 out of Bangladesh's 64 districts, forcing police and livestock officials to slaughter 35,000 chickens in the past three days alone, officials said.
 February 07, 2008: The West Bengal government on Wednesday declared that it had completed culling of chickens which was launched on January 16, just days after the outbreak of avian flu. A total of 35.8 lakh chickens have been killed. The total loss due to bird flu is being estimated at Rs. 500 crore. Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman said, “Around 20,000 more chickens are expected to be culled during the ongoing 
mopping operations which will continue till February 10.”  The situation was now under control. “Only 28 bird deaths were reported on Wednesday and there were no reports of large-scale unnatural deaths; no new areas have been added since February 2 to the list of 15 districts which were reported to be affected. There were no reports of the H5N1 virus affecting human beings.” 
 February 10, 2008: The West Bengal government on Saturday announced a Rs 700 crore 
package for helping the seven lakh families affected by the bird flu virus, which raged through the State for nearly a month since mid-January. State finance minister Dr. Asim Dasgupta, who held a meeting with officials of the Reserve Bank of India, the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) and commercial banks including rural banks, said a special package has been worked out for families below the poverty line (BPL). 
  He said an outright grant of Rs 100 crore would be given to make up for the loss of trade during the period of the avian flu as well as for the three-month ban imposed on the poultry industry in the affected areas. The total loss has been estimated at Rs 500 crore. Altogether 37 lakh chickens were killed in the 15 affected districts. 
 February 12 , 2008: Animal Resources Development Minister Anisur Rahaman today said that the West Bengal Government has lifted the ban on sale and transport of poultry and poultry products from most areas of the State. After a meeting to review the ban imposed on February 5, Rahaman said: “the ban was lifted considering that there was no fresh outbreak of bird flu”. “Poultry farming, however, could not be taken up in any of the affected notified 
areas in the next three months,” he added.
  Rahaman further said that the decision was taken after discussion with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Around 1.50 lakh poultry birds had died of avian influenza, while 38 lakh or over six percent of the total poultry in the State were culled. A total 50 blocks in 16 out of the 19 districts had been affected by bird flu.    

 NEW YORK, February 28, 2008: The United Nations has praised the "swift and comprehensive" measures taken by India and West Bengal to bring under control the "worst-ever" outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal, while urging the country to maintain vigilance in view of similar incidents reported in its neighbourhood. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's veterinary expert Mohinder Oberoi said that intensive culling in the predominantly backyard poultry sector of West Bengal appears to have stopped the disease in its tracks. Oberoi made the comment after a recent field trip to the affected areas, where no new outbreaks have been reported since February 2. 
 March 10, 2008 :  Only a month after authorities declared bird flu was under control in eastern India, veterinary workers began culling thousands of chickens on Monday to contain a fresh outbreak in poultry. The outbreak was reported from West Bengal's Murshidabad district where 900 chickens and ducks died over the last two weeks, officials said.  In January, the H5N1 virus had hit 13 of the state's 19 districts, including Murshidabad, bringing down poultry sales by more than 70 percent in the state, but it had a limited impact in rest of the country.
 Malda (WB), March 18, 2008 : Over 700 chicken died at the National Poultry Farm here during the past few days, triggering a bird flu scare in the district. Official sources said here Tuesday that 145 chicken died during the past 24 hours and the toll is increasing steadily. This was for the first time that farm chicken have died due to bird flu symptoms in West Bengal as the earlier outbreak of the disease was confined to backyard poultry.   

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